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Astoria Cinema, Aberdeen
1152 The exterior of the Astoria Cinema, Clifton Road, Kittybrewster, Aberdeen, c.1960. In 1934, a new cinema was built on part of the old Central Park, just north of Kittybrewster Auction Marts. It was designed by the architect, T. Scott Sutherland, and was opened on 8th December 1934, with space for more than 2000 people. Its proximity to the relatively new housing areas of Kittybrewster, Powis, Woodside and Hilton should have ensured its success. It was made of concrete over a steel framework, with the roof sloping in a series of steps to produce the best acoustics. It had a colour scheme of light pink, invory and brown with walnut panelling and 2 miles of Wilton carpet. It closed on Saturday 13th August 1966, re-opening later that month as a Bingo Hall but that only lasted a few months and it finally closed in January 1967. In April 1967, it was being demolished and the site redeveloped as a shopping complex. The cinema had had one of the latest Compton theatre organs, which had been removed piece by piece and restored to be placed in the hall of Powis Academy. In November 1982, an arson attack destroyed the organ. The Astoria Cinema
2268 The Astoria Cinema on Clifton Road, Woodside.
In 1934, a new cinema was built on part of the old Central Park, just north of Kittybrewster Auction Marts. It was designed by the architect T. Scott Sutherland and was opened on 8th December 1934 with space for more than 2000 people. Its proximity to the relatively new housing areas of Kittybrewster, Powis, Woodside and Hilton should have ensured its success.
It was made of concrete over a steel framework, with the roof sloping in a series of steps to produce the best acoustics. It had a colour scheme of light pink, ivory and brown with walnut panelling and 2 miles of Wilton carpet. It closed on Saturday 13th August 1966, reopening later that month as a Bingo Hall but that only lasted a few months and it finally closed in January 1967. In April 1967, it was being demolished and the site redeveloped as a shopping complex.
The cinema had had one of the latest Compton theatre organs, which had been removed piece by piece and restored to be placed in the hall of Powis Academy. Tragedy befell it in November 1982, when, in an act of vandalism, a youth set fire to the hall and the organ was totally destroyed. 150 Union Street and Diamond Street
2847 Pat Grant, hairdresser, at 150-150 and a half and Royal Exchange Assurance at 150 Union Street in 1937. The premises of Francis J. Scott & Gilchrist, solicitors, at 1 Diamond Street can be seen above.
The street on the left of the image is Diamond Street. In the distance can be seen The Palais De Danse and the News Cinema at 13 & 15 Diamond Street. Aberdeen Cinemas: Regal / ABC / Cannon
3396 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the Shiprow entrance to the Regal cinema in February 1961. The cinema is advertising showings of Saturday Night, Sunday Morning with Albert Finney, Linda with Carol White and Alan Rothwell, and Pathé News.
The Regal was opened on Monday 26th June 1954 by Associated British Cinema (ABC). The opening of this substantial cinema was the conclusion of a long and much delayed enterprise.
This Shiprow site was previously the location of Aberdeen's first permanent cinema, Dove Paterson's Gaiety. It had later become the Palladium and had laid shuttered for close to seven years when the owner put the site up for sale in early 1937.
Bert Gates of Aberdeen Picture Palaces (APP) put in an offer and made plans to build a very large cinema at the location. Michael Thomson in Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) suggests that had this plan gone ahead it would have made the local company a force with which to be reckoned.
Gate's plans were thwarted however when another offer for the property from ABC (Cinemas) was accepted. ABC were a major cinema operator throughout the UK, at the time second only to the Rank Organisation, which owned the Odeon and Gaumont chains. ABC's arrival in Aberdeen would offer stiff competition to local companies such as APP. Both in terms of having the best venues and having the best films to show in them.
ABC's arrival in Aberdeen did not go smoothly, however. It was not until 1939 that the cinema's plans received official approval. War was declared not long after construction had begun and in 1941 the project was stopped by government restrictions that halted the construction of non-essential buildings where roofing had not already been started. Only the outer shell had been built at Shiprow and the building would subsequently lie incomplete for over a decade.
After much campaigning, including by local MP Hector Hughes, the government finally gave its consent and on 28th October 1953 ABC announced that work on the Regal would recommence. The plans for the cinema were modernised and construction was quickly finished.
The completed Regal was an impressive, modern cinema with a seating capacity of 1,914. Its inaugural film was The Knights of the Round Table and the opening gala was attended by stars Richard Todd and Anne Crawford.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: Regal / ABC / Cannon
3400 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the interior of the ABC Cinema on Shiprow and Union Street in 1976. This was shortly after the "tripling" of the cinema which was completed on 8th July 1974. This was the process of dividing the cinema's original, single large auditorium into three distinct screening rooms. This allowed cinemas to show a greater variety of films and to cater to smaller audience numbers. The Odeon on Justice Mill Lane had been the first cinema in Aberdeen to be tripled, reopening as such on 8th April 1974.
This photograph shows ABC 1, the largest screen, that sat 566 people. Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) explains that the largest screen (cinema one) would mainly show first runs. The smaller screens (cinemas two and three) would be used for less commercial attractions or the retention of popular features already shown in the main screen. This is the format of cinema exhibition that is most common today but marked a significant change from the tradition of single large auditoriums.
The tripling of major circuit cinemas like the ABC and Odeon had a knock-on effect on the viability of cinemas such as The Cosmo on Diamond Street. These smaller cinemas had previously been a home for the less commercial features that the larger venues were now taking on.
In 1986 the ABC Cinemas chain became part of the American-based Cannon company, which already had extensive cinema interests in the UK. The vertical ABC sign above the Union Street entrance gave way to the Cannon logo in June 1987.
Some highlights of the cinema's time as the Cannon included hugely popular runs of E.T., the Tim Burton Batman, and Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. The cinema's name reverted to the ABC for a period before closing for the final time in early 1998.
Aberdeen and cinema-going was shortly to experience a period of expansion. In August 1999 Aberdeen company Craiglair Properties got the go-ahead to demolish the abandoned ABC and build a new seven screen cinema on the site. The cinema was called The Lighthouse and opened in April 2001. Since 2004 it has operated as The Vue Aberdeen.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: Picturedrome / Cinema House
3411 The Cinema House was located at the corner of Union Terrace, Skene Terrace and North Silver Street. The building was designed by Arthur H. L. Mackinnon and originally built in 1897-1898 as a clubhouse for the Aberdeen Union Club. Mackinnon (1870-1937) was a local architect who also designed the Aberdeen Fire Station on King Street and Mile End School.
The building's first recorded use for cinematographic purposes was a New Year Holiday Carnival organised by the pioneering Aberdeen cinematographer and exhibitor William Walker in December 1901. Alongside an early picture show the extravaganza featured the popular fiddler James Scott Skinner and a conjurer called Harry Marvello.
It was a Londoner by the name of Henry N. Philips who came to Aberdeen and in June 1910 converted this building into Aberdeen's second permanent cinema: the Picturedrome. The enterprise was a great success and Philip's formed a company called British Animated Pictures to run the cinema.
The 'Drome's first manager was Harry Fenton. He also appeared on the cinema's stage as a singer. This was a time when cinemas would often show a mixture of films and variety performances. The venue had a pianist called Hal Scott who would accompany performances and provided musical ambience.
The Picturedrome was noted for showing the film productions of Thomas Edison's Edison Studios and for consistently good stage turns.
In 1923 the Picturedrome/Union Club block was sold to the Loyal Order of Ancient Shepherds. They were one of the 19th century friendly societies in which people would band together prior to the development of more comprehensive welfare provision. The Shepherds continued to run the cinema for a period. A sign for the society can be seen in the top left of this image.
In May 1924 the cinema was taken over by James F. Donald. He was the patriarch of the Donald family that played a prominent role in the history of cinemas and theatres in Aberdeen. Restored and improved, the venue reopened on the 11th August of that year as the Cinema House. Donald initially held the premises on a 20-year lease, but would go on to buy the property outright.
This photograph, taken from in front of the Central Library, dates from around 1934 and shows the cinema advertising Father Brown Detective and The Lemon Drop Kid. Also visible next door at 2 Skene Terrace is a branch of the successful grocer and provision merchants, Wilburn Ltd.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson] Aberdeen Cinemas: West End / Playhouse
3415 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the Playhouse at 475 Union Street in January 1959. The venue originally opened on 12th November 1915 as a cinema called the West End. This was the first venture into full-time picture-hall proprietorship by James F. Donald, a key figure in the history of independent cinema exhibition in Aberdeen.
Donald was born in Newhills and came to Aberdeen for an apprenticeship with a coachbuilding firm. He had a varied career before coming to prominence as a highly successful dancing teacher. He was the leader of the Gondolier School of Dancing and Deportment.
He moved into the cinema business after acquiring the necessary projecting equipment and occupying a former billiard hall above the Aberdeen Dairy at 475 Union Street. Michael Thomson in Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) describes the cinema as a "strictly utilitarian affair", but a successful one at that. It was only heated by stoves, and coupled with being above a diary, it became known as "The Tuppenny Freezer".
Donald's lease on the cinema expired in September 1920 and he was immediately followed as proprietor by Bert Gate's Aberdeen Picture Palaces. It was a time of expansion for the incoming company. They had recently purchased The Picturedrome on Skene Terrace and shortly looked to transform the West End. The latter closed on 2nd April and reopened on 14th September 1921 as the 1,000-seater Picture Playhouse.
The opening ceremony was attended by Gates, the cinema's architects George Sutherland and Clement George, and various local VIPs. The opening films were A Yankee in the Court of King Arthur, a comedy called Jerry on the Spot, Pathé news, and another short. Thomson states that Aberdeen Picture Palaces were "now the proud possessor of a large, well-situated 'flagship' house, and Union Street now sported a fine up-to-date cinema."
The design of the Playhouse was "classical" and up-market, in accordance with its prominent west-end location. As seen here, the Union Street entrance was surrounded by white Sicilian marble facings on a black marble base. The paybox was oval in shape with one end in the vestibule and the other in the front foyer.
The main foyer was through the Union Street part of the building and up a 12-feet wide carpeted, marble stairway. This way was a tea room called the Ingleneuk, the manager's office, and the ornately decorated auditorium. The plush new cinema represented competition for the nearby Picture House.
Bert Gates, the manager of the Playhouse, was somewhat sceptical of the talkies but fully embraced the new development in February 1930 with the installation of a full Western Electric sound system.
The opening of Aberdeen Picture Palace's Capitol down the road in 1933 saw a reduction in ticket prices at the Playhouse. The two partner cinemas were advertised at the time as "Aberdeen's Premier Pair".
On 23 May 1941 it was announced that James F. Donald (Aberdeen Cinemas) Ltd. had bought a controlling interest in Aberdeen Picture Palaces. This meant that the Playhouse, along with the other APP venues, were now in the Donald circuit of cinemas.
This photograph dates from 1959 shortly before the cinema was relaunched as the Playhouse Continental, showing popular, often more risqué, films from Europe. This only lasted for a couple of years and the cinema reverted to being the Playhouse in 1961. This photograph shows the cinema advertising The Wind Cannot Read with Dirk Bogarde and All for Mary.
By 1973 the profitability of the Playhouse was eroded by spiralling costs. The owners of the building, builders James Scott & Son, had moved premises and were looking to dispose of the Union Street property. The cinema's lease was terminated at the end of 1973 and the cinema closed on 9th May 1974. Ownership of the block passed to Devanha Properties Ltd. and after lying empty for a few months the Playhouse was demolished to make way for a new block of shops and offices.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: News Cinema / Curzon / Cosmo 2
3426 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the Cosmo 2 cinema at 15 Diamond Street in January 1976.
This site was first used as a picture hall by the News Cinema which opened on Saturday 5th September 1936. This was only the second cinema of its type to open in Scotland. Michael Thomson explains that news cinemas aimed to entertain those with only limited time, with programmes lasting approximately an hour made up of comedy and local interest shorts, newsreels and cartoons. They were ideal for travellers waiting for connections or those passing time before appointments.
The News Cinema in Aberdeen was owned by Ernest Bromberg and was located next door to the Palais on Diamond Street. The cinema was converted from a former stable building that Bromberg had owned since 1931. Thomson states that "the acoustics and the RCA talkie system were excellent, and all in all the little cinema more than made up in comfort and quality for what it lacked in size."
The News Cinema made its own local newsreels that documented happenings in the town. In October 1941 one of these captured footage of the tragic fire that destroyed the upper section of the Palace Hotel and killed 6 people. Major national events such as coronations and the second world war were also heavily represented in the News Cinema's programme.
On 4th April 1955 the cinema was rebranded by Bromberg as the Newcine Continental and specialised in showing films from Europe, which were then growing in popularity. During the next year the cinema shifted back to news programmes and reverted to its original name on 3rd December 1956.
The current events function of news cinemas was increasingly superseded by the growth and availability of TV news reporting. In May 1959 the cinema changed its name to the Curzon and returned to showing continental films, including the more risqué variety which were popular at the time.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Glen Cinema Poster
407 A poster for the Glen Cinema in Culter advertising showings of Home at Seven (1952), Bride of the Gorilla (1951), Call of the Jungle (1944) and Prison Mutiny (1943).
The Glen Cinemas company showed films in various venues throughout the North East of Scotland during the 1930s to early 60s. One of these venues was Culter Community Centre.
Glen Cinemas was founded in 1936 by a local man called Arthur M. Burns. The company folded in 1961. Cinema equipment from the Culter Glen Cinema remained in the community centre for around 21 years before being sold by Burns to the London based collector Ronald Grant.
Grant was born in Banchory and worked as a projectionist in the Playhouse, Majestic and Kingsway cinemas in Aberdeen. He was also the assistant general manager of the Cosmo 2 in Diamond Street, before moving to the British Film Institute in London in 1967. The Ronald Grant Archive of Film and Cinematic Memorabilia remains active today.
Glen Cinemas also operated in the Shepherd's Hall in Bucksburn (also known as the Argosy Ballroom).
See the Aberdeen Press & Journal article 'Culter "upset" over cinema history loss' from 14th September 1982, page 3, and Michael Thomson's book Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) for more information on Glen Cinemas. |